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Garda murderer was enhanced prisoner with access to laptop, conspiracy trial hears

Summary

Aaron Brady, who killed Garda Adrian Donohoe, was an enhanced prisoner in Mountjoy with special privileges, including a laptop for reviewing evidence. He was housed on the D‑wing basement floor, a level reserved for inmates with good behaviour, and had more freedom to move, attend education, and receive extra phone calls and money. Brady, a 33‑year‑old former resident of New Road, Crossmaglen, was convicted in 2020 of Donohoe's murder and later pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice for recording a video of witness Ronan Flynn. Dean Byrne, a 30‑year‑old from Cabra Park, was tried for conspiring with Brady between April and June 2020 to persuade witness Daniel Cahill not to testify at Brady's trial. Byrne pleaded not guilty to the single charge. The Special Criminal Court heard these facts during the trial.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Garda murderer was enhanced prisoner with access to laptop, conspiracy trial hears. Charges or matters: the charge that on a date between February 20 and May 7, 2020, within the State, he embarked on a course of conduct intended to pervert the course of justice; the single charge. Procedural stage: finding. Findings: Convicted

When:

• August 2020 Other
• January 25, 2013 Hearing Or Sentence
• February 20 Hearing Or Sentence
• May 7, 2020 Hearing Or Sentence
• April 8, 2020 Hearing Or Sentence
• June 22, 2020 Hearing Or Sentence
• 2024-04-24 Publication

Why: Enhanced prisoner duties were suspended, Mr Quinn said, but Red Cross volunteers would still have been allowed to do leaflet drops because that provided a way to communicate without direct contact. CNI source report

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Finding Violent Crime

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Read the original CNI report